I have idea for a hero who's power origins come from divine bloodline, a demigod. My theory is the sheer number of people's faith, trust and belief in a deity gives them their powers. The stronger the people believe in the deity the stronger they are. In the modern age, religion places roughly bellow technology, greed, and the media. Certain if not most deities have either fade away to obscurity and any bloodlines with mortals has dwindled mere few demigods here and there. The hero I made discovers his bloodline roots when he decided to become a costumed hero. As news of his exploits spread among the populous his demigod powers grew beyond what he was originally capable of. Basically media exposure or Recognition of this hero fuels his powers, much like how deity worshiping give deities their powers.

One of this hero's complication is already Responsibility. He wants to make good use of the the gifts he's been given, but wants to do more beyond what he is capable of. I'd like to say another complication this hero needs would be Recognition. Right? Basically if this hero is not liked by the people, his powers are cut in half. You know, it's like the president's approval rating. He does good (Obama Care) the people rejoice, he doesn't (Obama Care On-line) people revolt.

Now here's the thing; how would the GM control or simulate how this hero is viewed by the people; so that his powers wax and ween when he does good or fails to live up to his potential. Also I know if you face or deal with your complications you get Hero Point/s right? How does this work with the Recognition complication? Enough exposure gives this hero his powers, too much and people loose interest and is powers are halved. Cause it seems like this hero would get a hero point for both good and bad Recognition. He gets the HP if he does good things to be recognized, or if he fails he gets an shunned he still gets an HP for overcoming it.

Any advice would be welcomed

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't what I'm doing""I'm so clever that at sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm saying."

Hero Points only come up when there's a negative consequence. Times when his powers are decreased when he needs them deserves an HP. The only scenario I can think of where his powers coming back, or more strongly, would be where the return causes him trouble, say that he's in the middle of something delicate, such as bringing rain to dry fields, and his power surges and he has to make a Will check to avoid deluging the fields and washing away the plants. Or, another possibility, he's managed to convince an adversary to work with him because his powers are currently inaccessible and then suddenly, his godly glow comes back and he has to do some fast talking to keep from them turning on them.

Of course, the Reputation Complication doesn't always have to tie into him already taking power loss. He might also have situations where he needs to grapple with it before the fact, a case where maintaining belief forces hard decisions.

um... Pick up a copy of the 50 page, 2001 image mini-trade, called "Superstar: As seen on TV." Its essentially the same deal.... Apart from that, the only advice I can give is don't do it. I've never seen it done well in game & it just comes off as completely arbitrary on the behalf of the GM. The two times I've seen it done, it was done poorly & just ended up pissing off the player & the GM, as both disagreed on what constituted faith or belief & what deserved a boost to that quality... An then just watching one of the PC's in question destroying the GM's setting, trying to whore themselves out to the media for more power... To the point that they were calling press releases to announce how tasty this mornings breakfast was.

So just from a story point of view, make sure you have an idea of what you are actually getting from people. For example, if I believe your character is a god, but think he is a complete wanker, are you getting power from me? What if I don't believe you are a god, but really enjoyed watching your character schtupping the big boobed weather girl from channel 4 on that "stolen" sex tape of yours?

See what I mean: Quantify early what exactly counts as faith, or belief, or trust, or whatever you are calling it.

That's pretty much the only advice I can give if you intend to go through with it.

EDIT: Sorry if that sound kinda dickish, but it is what it is. I hope you find the solution you are looking for.

“Anti-Intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge’.”-Isaac Asimov

One thing to consider beased on what you are describing is what constitutes "belief". Go read a lot of the ancient myths, some of the gods could be petty, jealous, down right unlikeable, but that doesn't mean that they were not worshipped. Some of them were worshipped as much out of fear as out of wanting whatever good graces the god could bestow. In some ways the same can be said for the old testament of the bible.

Does the "faith" that fuels his power mean that people see him in a good light and as a hero, or just that enough people belief that he is a superhuman/demigod/..., or it it based on faith in the god whose bloodline he belongs to. Each of these would change both the character's complications as well as some of his motives in game.

I understand that you want the character to have some base level of power no matter what.

The question is does the boost come from the people believing he is a hero (they must believe he is good/heroic), or just that people believe that he is a "god" (doesn't matter if he is good or evil as long as the people believe he is powerful, that belief further feeds his power)

It doesn't sound like you want the 3rd option I presented that the belief in the parent god is what fuels his power (because it would fuel the god and then trickle down through the entire bloodline)